Exodus 27:10, commentary and pictures

The verse gives the construction of the court wall on one side, twenty pillars set at regular intervals in twenty sockets of brass, with hooks and connecting rods or bands of silver to hold the hangings of fine-twined linen that formed the boundary around the sanctuary. The court so enclosed was a double square one hundred cubits long by fifty cubits wide and five cubits high, its pillars five cubits high and five cubits apart, continuous except on the east where a twenty-cubit entrance was provided with curtains of blue and purple and scarlet and fine-twined linen. These were part of the very minute instructions Moses was told to make exactly according to the pattern shown him during his forty days with God in the mount, which Israel afterward carried out in Exodus 35-40 until the completed sanctuary was set up and God's manifested glory came upon it. God commanded it to be built so He might dwell among His people, His dwelling place in the wilderness and afterward in Israel, made to hold the ark containing the law written on stone with worship centered there upon the holy of holies where the law rested beneath the mercy seat. Made according to the heavenly pattern with its two holy places, it was the worldly sanctuary of the first covenant whose sacrifices passed away when Christ died once for all, foreshadowing His priestly ministry now carried on in the heavenly temple. Its fine linen teaches the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of the saints obtained only by having Christ, and the approach through the gate by way of the altar and laver pictures access to God through Christ who is the door, the sin offering, and the living Word that cleanses from sin.

Court Construction Described

The twenty pillars and their twenty sockets were to be of brass, while the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were to be of silver, the fillets being the connecting rods or bands joining the pillars together. The pillars stood at regular intervals, five cubits apart, and supported the hangings of fine-twined linen that formed the boundary of the court around the sanctuary. That court surrounding the tabernacle had a hanging or veil at its entrance, with its entrance at the east end.

The court was a double square, one hundred cubits long by fifty cubits wide and five cubits high, about one hundred and fifty by seventy-five feet and about nine feet high. Its brass pillars were five cubits in height and set five cubits apart, and the linen enclosure was continuous except on the east where an entrance twenty cubits wide was provided with curtains of blue and purple and scarlet and fine-twined linen. The tabernacle entrance itself had five pillars with gold fittings and brass sockets. All the important dimensions were five cubits or multiples of five, made with strict regard to proportion and beauty and of material to impress beholders with the importance of the objects and the purity and sacredness of the worship.

Those who held to a larger reckoning taught that the court was three hundred feet long by one hundred and fifty feet wide, with the tabernacle standing midway between its sides leaving thirty feet of open space to the west and seventy-five feet to the east. In that reckoning the eastern open space of seventy-five by one hundred feet held the altar of burnt offerings where animals and other offerings were brought. Read with verses 9-18, the court surrounding the sanctuary had its gate at the east end, corresponding to the east-facing door of the tabernacle and of Solomon's temple, and the people entered through this gate and came to the sanctuary by way of the burnt-offering altar and the laver.

In one account the verse was taken to show the sides and one end formed of upright boards closely joined with lower ends set in sockets fixed in the ground, held by outside crossing bars through uniform rings. The same account taught that the structure was roofed with ground-reaching curtains, closed at the east by passable linen hangings, and divided inside by another curtain into two apartments with the outer apartment twice the space of the inner. The verse belongs to the very minute instructions for the sanctuary in Exodus 25-31, principally Exodus 25-30, which Moses was told to make exactly according to the pattern shown him in the mount during his forty days with God on the mountain. Exodus 35-40 records how the directions were carried out, Israel built the sanctuary at God's command as directed, and it was then set up and inaugurated with God's manifested glory coming upon the completed sanctuary showing His acceptance.

The verse stands within the record in Exodus 19, 20, and 24-34 of God's personal descent upon Mount Sinai with His angels. After the people asked Moses to speak with God on their behalf Moses received ceremonies and ordinances through Moses distinct from the Ten Commandments spoken directly by God and written on stone.

Sanctuary Meaning Revealed

The twenty pillars with brass sockets and silver hooks and bands belong to the sanctuary Israel was commanded to build that God might dwell among them and priests might minister in His presence. It was God's dwelling place among His people first in the wilderness and afterward in Israel until the temple was built after the same pattern. It was made to hold the ark containing the law God wrote on stone, with priests ministering before the ark. Earthly worship centered there, and its services focused on the holy of holies where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat.

The sanctuary and its service in the tabernacle among Israel and later in the temple is the object-lesson set down on earth that sets forth God's plan of government and how He deals with those who sought to dethrone Him by sin. As priest upon the throne, still King while executing the priest's office in dealing with sinners, He sets forth provision devised from eternity for salvation from sin. God's people are so intimately related to the sanctuary that they cooperate with God in His work through Christ in the sanctuary, so that every step is divine and human cooperation. For this reason God made His purpose known and gave Moses the building instructions in Exodus 25 to 31 to make known to the people so they could act their part, and the instruction calls for examining one's attitude of heart toward God's sanctuary.

The sanctuary made under these instructions was built according to the heavenly pattern shown to Moses on the mount during the forty days, and was a pattern of the heavenly temple which has two holy places. It was the worldly sanctuary connected with the first covenant. Its ministration of sacrifices and offerings passed away when Christ died once for all, and its services foreshadowed Christ's priestly ministry in the heavenly temple where Jesus now ministers.

The instruction belongs to the laws given through Moses, including ceremonial laws as well as moral laws, statutes, and judgments, called the law of Moses which God calls His people to remember. Those laws preserve the offerings, sacrifices, and types that help trace the substance of the new dispensation from the shadows of the old. They include the directions establishing the priestly service for Aaron and his sons, so that others were not to perform priestly rites unless the Lord specially directed them.

The court whose pillars are here specified was hung with fine-twined linen, except the gate which added blue and purple and scarlet, and the fine linen teaches the righteousness of Christ. It represents the righteousness of the saints, which can be obtained only by having Christ, for He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption and His name is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Read with verses 9-18, the court surrounding the sanctuary had its gate at the east end, corresponding to the east-facing door of the tabernacle and of Solomon's temple, and the people entered through this gate and came to the sanctuary by way of the burnt-offering altar and the laver. This approach pictures access to God through Christ, who is the door, the sin offering, and the living Word that cleanses from sin.